9 Ways The Marvel Cinematic Universe Could End

6. A Reboot To Bring In The X-Men

Now Spider-Man's in the MCU fold, it's time to start focusing on the next on the Marvel movie wishlist - the X-Men. Unlike Sony, who looked to be actively wanting to run Spidey into the ground, Fox have a much tighter grasp on how to make the X-Men work, bringing the franchise back from the brink multiple times with gusto.

This would make it seem unlikely that we'll ever get Avengers Vs. X-Men, but not only would it be in both company's short-term interests, it provides a simple way to maintain interest in the properties going forward (gotta be careful of that bursting bubble). The bigger issue, when you get past the legal trickiness, would be how to introduce the mutants. Given how expansive the MCU has got, it can't be simply shrugged that they were existing just off-screen - unlike Spider-Man or Inhumans, X-Men's comic replacement who are being brought in over time, the team have an unavoidable impact on their world.

If a Fox-Marvel deal ever goes through, there's a bit of a logistical problem. There may be some sneaky way around it, but the cleanest way to introduce the X-Men as a complete part of the world would be to restart the whole thing. There's several Avengers stories that Professor X, Magento et al play a large role in that currently can't be done, and would be heavily bastardised even if done when the X-Men finally do come across (by that point the MCU roster would have been revised out of recognition), so this seems like the only way to do any deal justice.